"The Way Of Learning Kendo More Easily And Quickly"

If you are struggling to learn kendō movements and getting frustrated, please take a moment to read some tips in this section. I have seen a lot of people having a hard time learning new movements and the easiest and quickest way to get the movements is…

To Use Your Daily Movements Into Kendo

Many people get really nervous and tensed up when they learn the kendō movements.

It is the last thing you want to do. You must be relaxed as much as you can.

Many experienced kendō people are relaxed because they repeated the same movements over and over when they were youngsters. And by repetition, we learn how to relax; otherwise, we cannot keep swinging swords.

Please do not think that you have to be a teenager to become better in kendō. My farther started kendō at the age of 55 and became 5-dan. Kendō is not about how fast you can strike. Kendō is about how to control ourselves.

If you cannot do one movement, you must be patient; otherwise, you will hate kendō. The kendō movements are not anything special and nothing difficult.

But if you step back and see the similarities between the kendō movements and your daily life movements, you will realize that they aren't so complicated. It is your perception that makes the kendō movements look so complicated and difficult.

The Most Common Cause Of The Tension The Kendō Beginners Have Is…

A thought of "using a sword". Most of male beginners grab their shinai/bokutō really tight. Their arms are stretched out and their forearms are really tightened up.

This makes it even harder to learn the kendō movements. If you want to improve kendō quickly and easily you have to relax. What I am going to write here is what I say to my students and sounds pretty weird.

Try Not To Control The Sword, But Your Body

Since kendō is "the way of the sword", people try to control a sword. But because of that, they cannot control their sword. The sword controls them.

First, you have to learn how to control your body. For example, in kendō we apply unusual footwork, suri-ashi. Suri means sliding or gliding. Many have problems with this footwork because it is unusual. Also the feet stick to the floor.

In order to get the hang of this weird footwork, I tell my students to lift their right foot slightly up and sweep the floor with the foot. And feel the dust rolling between their foot and the floor. All you need to have is that much of gap between the feet and the floor to slide smoothly.

They get the idea really quickly. After this, I have them slide back and forth up and down the dojo. Just like…

They Are Ice Skating

Yes. You heard it right. This may sound "weird" when learning "the way of the sword". But fortunately, many can get the idea and makes it easier for them to understand what they are supposed to do.

In the video below, I am saying that "slide your feet as if you had a piece of paper between your feet and the floor". But then I came up with the dust thing.

The most important thing is to understand how to use and control your body. And the easiest and quickest way to learn the kendō movements is to apply the movements that are familiar to you.